Japan; the country of anime, sushi (our-go-to-lunch!) and of course, minimalism. However, not all us could refrain from buying four (alright, five) pillows for our single beds or be satisfied with just one bookshelf especially when half of the novels are of the ‘Game of Thrones’ series so we really have to have that talk with ourselves; “It’s time to get organised.”

So we look to the land of the rising sun for answers and they gave us, the KonMari method made famous by Marie Kondo in her book, “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organising” and even though the book gave extensive explanation and instruction on how to employ the KonMari method; we’ve summed it up into five steps so easy you could start immediately after browsing our site!

1. Let it Go

Yes, more is more but sometimes less is good too so go through the items in your house and make the choice; keep, donate or throw it away. Before you could begin to organise, you must deal to detach from some of messes in your life; maybe that unused notebook and the dress you’ve been keeping in the back of the closet could be given to someone else.

2. For Keepsakes

“Maybe I should keep the shirt for… someday when I’ll have to use it,” Really? Will you actually use it or are you just anxious at parting from it? The “someday” that you’re waiting for may not come for the items that you’re keeping just for “what ifs” and these may be the facial toner you used once because it’s too drying or empty cardboard boxes you plan to use as gift boxes one day.

3. Start Small

It’s sensible that you scour the whole house and organise things by category rather than cleaning one room after the other. Although it may seem only logical to start with cleaning say, the kitchen and then the bedroom and so forth but the method advices that you should organise according to the item’s group like paper, files, toys etc because there is likelihood that it will be scattered all over.

4. When Everything’s Gone

After disposing stuff you don’t need, decide to designate the things you keep to certain areas i.e. instead of having your books in every room in the house, create a small library or have a single spot for your children’s toys where they can easily put them back. This is a crucial step as to avoid a clutter relapse (yikes!).

5. It’s Alive!

In order to maintain the cleanliness and an organised home, you must treat the objects in it as if they’re living. We know it’s absurd but this way you will ensure that each item has a place and a purpose; with this in mind, you won’t carelessly throw your car keys anywhere because it should have “a room” of its own and you would want to make the house comfortable for things that stay just as you do with your family.